Will they be Leave-ing you for more? Read On.
by Alexander Quebec
Long lines await thee at the most recent arrival from SoCal: 7 Leaves Cafe. Who are these people though? And how did they get the following that they did?
To give you some background, 7 Leaves originally came from Southern California, in a little shop in the heart of Little Saigon (thier little Saigon, not ours) according to their website. Since then, the chain has expanded to several locations, including locations in California and Texas. Taking a more artisanal and hand crafted approach to their methods, the chain focuses on bringing out the natural flavors of each of the ingredients they use in their drinks.
I went into their newly opened location in San Jose. The last few times I went, there was a line around the building that boasted a 45 minute wait keeping in mind, however, that it was a Saturday or Sunday each time I was coming through. To cut down on time, I decided to visit on a Monday afternoon. There was a line, but the wait was a little less than 20 minutes to get in.
I ordered two drinks to give it a go, The Sea Cream Iced Caramel drink and the Mung Bean Milk Tea.
I liked the Sea Cream drink the most; it was sweet, but not cloyingly sweet. It tasted a lot like the cold brew coffees you can get in a bottle, but I could taste the sweetener they used was more of a natural flavor as opposed to something synthetic (think like a turbinado flavor). I loved how I got a good amount of the coffee flavor and that it wasn’t overpowered by the creamier aspects of the drink.
The Mung Bean Milk tea actually tasted like sweetened mung bean. Granted, for the uninitiated the texture is pretty grainy (No big deal if you’re already accustomed to it) but I loved the sweetness and slight creamy butteriness of the drink too.
I also tried the sweet and delicate macaroons in Chocolate, Salted Caramel and Rose Water. Crispy cookies with a sweet almond paste filling. Overall, I’d highly recommend ordering a dozen or two of these for a classic high tea party or other boujee event you might be hosting.
VERDICT: “I’d travel the world for some 7 seas-ons”